Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been voted BBC African Footballer of the Year for the second time in a row. The 26-year-old beat Medhi Benatia, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane and Thomas Partey to the prize.

Egypt’s Mohamed Salah trains with his team at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd on June 24, 2018, on the eve of their Group A match against Saudi Arabia during the Russia 2018 World Cup football tournament. / AFP PHOTO

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The Premier League’s player of the year scored 44 goals in 52 games for Liverpool last season.

“It’s a great feeling to win again. I’m happy and I would like to win it also next year!” said Salah.

As well as inspiring his club to the Champions League final, Salah scored twice for Egypt at this year’s World Cup, having netted both goals in the match which took his country to the tournament for the first time since 1990.

“There have been many good moments in 2018,” he added. “The game against Roma at Anfield [Champions League semi-final first leg] was unbelievable. I’m scoring goals and helping the team to get the points to be top of the league. That’s always a great feeling.”